Benton County OK's HIV Clinic

(cross posted at NWA Center for Equality blog)

Washington County is losing their HIV Clinic…and gaining the Northwest Arkansas Regional HIV Clinic! This is long in the making, but now it is official. The NWA Times reports that the Benton County Quorum Court (it’s like city council but for the entire county) voted yesterday to form an intergovernmental agreement with Washington County and form a board of directors that will govern the newly named clinic.

The Fayetteville clinic has existed for years and has been funded by both counties and Washington Regional Medical Center, though the funding has not been equal to the share of cases. This agreement should lead to greater accountability (with the appointed board) and greater cooperation on a problem that crosses county lines.

A few questions though: Who will populate this new board? HIV/AIDS is still a health concern that disproportionately affects segments of the LGBTQ population. Should we insist that the board has some kind of representation from communities that struggle with this problem?In NWA, target communities for prevention might be Latino/as, especially women, and gay men, but care may be a bit different. Should at least one person on that board be HIV-positive, in order to have personal insight into HIV care experience?

According to an article last summer, the Clinic has 625 patients. Why is thorough treatment important to the larger community? As I reported last World AIDS Day, “treatment on anti-retroviral drugs reduces the total average viral load in a community…lower viral load in community lowers the transmission rate.” So good treatment means a healthier community..and less HIV.

Washington County HIV Clinic 3270 North Wimberly Drive Fayetteville, AR 72703 (501) 973-8450.

Here’s a rough look at the numbers provide in the article.

(Washington County HIV Clinic does treat one or two patients from Madison County)

Northwest Arkansas HIV Clinic
Washington County provides 38 percent of the clinic’s money, Washington Regional Medical Center provides 36 percent and Benton County provides 16 percent. The rest of the clinic’s money is from other sources, such as insurance reimbursements and donations. Benton County’s share in 2010 was $34,000. Benton County residents accounted for 39 percent of the clinic’s caseload, according to a survey.